After 24 years of marriage, in February 2025, Fox Business anchor Liz Claman and MSNBC “Morning Joe” managing editor Jeff Kepnes went their separate ways. The two journalists first met while working together at a local news station in Boston and got married in 1999. The “Claman Countdown” host and MSNBC managing editor also share two children, Julian and Gabrielle Kepnes. The former couple have not publicly commented on their parting ways, but it was a source close to them that confirmed to Page Six that Claman and Kepnes’ relationship was heading to Splitsville.

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The insider disclosed that the “award-winning media power couple [had] quietly separated in 2023” following a lack of spark in their relationship, which gradually got worse over time. Claman and Kepnes tried to keep their relationship mostly private and hardly shared any personal details on their social media pages. But viewers of Claman’s news show suspected that something in the journalists’ relationship was wrong when they noticed Claman had stopped wearing her wedding ring. Though they’re separated, information on whether they’ve filed for divorce has not been publicized.

Though we can’t be sure what ultimately caused their marriage’s demise, the fact that Liz Claman, who is also known as “the CEO whisperer,” and Jeff Kepnes work for rival networks could be one of the reasons their marriage went downhill. Fox Business and MSNBC produce similar content, therefore they target the same audience. The Fox Corporation, which owns Fox Business, saw high numbers across its networks in 2024, despite some of its most prominent journalists being nixed from Fox News. In the first quarter of 2024, the corporation’s news network aired 95 of the top 100 newscasts and, in 2025, they continued to dominate cable networks, banking up to 2 million viewers daily. 

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Meanwhile, MSNBC viewership is consistently down. Even worse, “Morning Joe’s” in particular plummeted following the 2024 U.S. presidential election. This steep decline in viewership is likely connected to the backlash that the show’s controversial anchors, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, received after visiting President Donald Trump at Mar-a-largo in November 2024. Working for rival networks, especially while one is thriving and the other is sinking, would surely rock even the strongest marriage. Meanwhile, the couple’s two teenage children, who also maintain a strictly private life, have not publicly commented on their parents’ separation and how their family dynamics will be affected.

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